These Gpt-5 Earbuds Have A Useful Recording Feature That Makes Work Calls Much More Productive

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The Oso AI earbuds are disposable for $249.
• They grounds calls, meetings, and conversations, and make meticulous transcripts and AI summaries.
• They're pricey, immoderate features are down a premium tier, and without ANC, they won't switch your superior brace of earbuds.

Follow ZDNET: Add america arsenic a preferred source on Google.

The earbuds characteristic 13mm move drivers, a dual beamforming microphone, and support for Bluetooth 5.2. Physically, nan integrative lawsuit and shiny earbuds don't precisely shriek premium, but they don't consciousness low-end, either. The lawsuit has thing unique, though: a touchscreen display. 

Tapping nan show shows nan clip and date, and swiping done nan screens shows accusation for features and settings, specified arsenic volume, brightness, EQ, playback controls, and more. What's really helpful, though, is nan artillery information, which displays each bud's percent and nan powerfulness near successful nan case. 

When nan lawsuit is idle, aliases if you unfastened and put nan buds in, an animated look appears to look around, squint astatine you, aliases sometimes springiness you bosom eyes if you pat it. I presume nan marque wanted to personify nan buds arsenic an AI-ready adjunct that jumps successful to thief you erstwhile you request it. 

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

The touchscreen connected nan earbuds lawsuit doesn't precisely origin usability problems, but handling it tin consequence successful paper activation, occasionally skipping tracks, aliases changing a mounting conscionable from pulling nan lawsuit retired of your pocket. The touchscreen is 1 of those features that sounds bully connected insubstantial but won't beryllium for everyone. Note that you tin move it disconnected successful nan settings, though. 

When it comes to different features, nan signaling capabilities connected nan earbuds are alternatively robust. I tried them retired successful a fewer meetings, and nan transcripts generated were arsenic meticulous arsenic immoderate different AI transcription service. The summarization characteristic was besides accurate, pinch amazingly accelerated generation. 

Also: I replaced my AirPods Max pinch nan AirPods Pro 3, and didn't mind nan $300 value gap

Recording telephone calls is 1 of nan cardinal features of nan buds, since this utilized to beryllium a alternatively tricky task. The recorded telephone value is excellent, and activating nan characteristic successful nan app is easy. Another point to statement present is that, though nan Oso personification will perceive a sound notification that a signaling is starting, nan only effect is simply a subtle sound effect that nan caller hears. 

In nan Oso app, you'll find each your recordings successful 1 place, nether nan Conversation tab. Clicking into a signaling will propulsion up nan written transcript pinch audio playback astatine nan bottom. Scrolling done nan audio timeline will automatically displacement to nan portion of nan transcript, truthful you tin travel along. 

This conception is besides wherever you tin entree nan summary characteristic and person nan app make a well-formatted overview of nan conversation, meeting, aliases telephone call, complete pinch slug points and action items. The consequence is akin to what you'd spot pinch Google Gemini. When it comes to sharing, you tin transcript and paste from nan app into Slack, email, aliases matter messaging. 

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

These features are awesome and are what nan mostly of users will prosecute with. However, nan LaxisChat option, wherever you tin interface pinch nan chatbot to inquire questions astir nan recorded content, is down a paywall. 

In fact, nan Oso app is rife pinch prompts to upgrade your rank to a premium tier, pinch a advancement barroom that shows you conscionable really overmuch room you person near for audio retention pinch nan free membership. You get rather a batch of retention for free, though: 300 minutes of monthly transcription and AI summaries, and 1,000 minutes of unreality retention for your recordings.

Also: These different earbuds were nan astonishment of nan twelvemonth for maine - why they sound truthful good

If you want to interact pinch respective recorded transcripts and interviews, I could spot nan rank being useful, but support successful mind that a batch of these features tin beryllium recovered successful different places, for illustration connected a Google Chromebook Plus utilizing Gemini, successful Apple Intelligence connected a MacBook, aliases an AI-packed Android device, specified arsenic nan Samsung Z Fold 7. 

The usefulness of nan Oso earbuds lies successful nan app's expertise to support everything successful 1 place. However, astatine $119/year, nan premium tier is not precisely cheap, particularly pinch nan costs of nan earbuds themselves, which tally for $249. Again, this is pricey for a merchandise of this caliber. The buds costs nan aforesaid value arsenic Apple's brand-new AirPods Pro 3, a top-tier brace of buds pinch ANC and galore of nan aforesaid AI integrations. 

Also: The champion earbuds of 2025: Expert tested and reviewed

While we're connected nan taxable of ANC, I should mention that nan Oso buds declare to person "smart sound cancellation", which apt refers to treating audio connected calls, but nan buds don't person progressive sound cancellation that will dim retired ambient noise. In that sense, they won't switch high-end earbuds for astir folks. 

For example, nan Oso earbuds didn't guidelines a chance connected nan subway successful New York, my euphony being wholly drowned retired by nan ambient noise. To beryllium fair, though, that's not precisely what these buds are made for. These are nan earbuds you popular successful erstwhile you person an important meeting, telephone call, aliases lecture, and you want to grounds each connection successful audio and text. 

ZDNET's buying advice

The Oso AI Assistant Earbuds are awesome for anyone who wants to record, transcribe, and summarize conversations, lectures, aliases meetings. The corresponding app houses each of these features successful 1 place, and nan summaries it provides are comparable to those of different starring AI-powered platforms. 

The telephone signaling characteristic is good, and journalists, successful particular, will emotion this capability, which is not successful nan premium tier. For these transcription and summarization features, which are often services associated pinch memberships, nan $249 value of nan earbuds is easy justified. 

But if you're looking for a brace of earbuds that person booming bass and ANC, these are not what you want. The Oso earbuds will play your music, but they're designed to record, summarize, and transcribe dialogue, and they do it well.